My main belief as a teacher is that every student can learn. This may sound simple and obvious, yet it is not nearly as easy as it seems. My job as a teacher is to find out how each of my students learn and do my best to help them succeed in my class and in life. High school is but a blip on the radar screen for many in the grand scheme of life, and chemistry even less so, and I must not lose track of this fact as one of the seven or so teachers most students see a week.
My background experiences have uniquely prepared me to be a high school chemistry teacher. My bachelor's degree in chemistry and my prior experience teaching general chemistry labs at the university level allow me to have such a firm grasp on the concepts taught that I can focus my time on helping students. Instead of having to stop and think about how to solve a problem when a student calls me over for assistance, I can tell at a glance what they've understood and gotten correct and what they've struggled with. My deeper understanding of this topic allows me to create tasks that can be adapted for students at all achievement levels, and engagement levels.
My deepest desire would be to have engaged students, in any class, any environment. Chemistry is not everyone's love, but can I make it interesting and provide opportunities for students to engage and relate to the material from multiple viewpoints and contents? I enjoy using trade books to convey messages about chemistry, books such as the biography of Marie Curie, and a book that tells a tale about each element on the periodic table of the elements. I seek to find ways to relate the content to students daily lives, including stunning and shocking examples of what seem to be mundane topics such as ionic bonds -- a giant cavern in a mountain in Mexico full of perfect 20 foot tall crystals at 113 degrees Fahrenheit and 95% humidity; or demonstrating that changing H2O to H3O cannot be done to balance a chemical equation because you would be starting with harmless water and "changing" it to acid.
I feel that I am poised to achieve these goals as a teacher, knowing that each day, week, and year will bring new surprises and challenges. I think I am well prepred both in my content area of chemistry as well as in my education preparation to do all in my power to create alearning environment that is welcoming and productive for all learners.
OLD VERSION: My number one goal as a teacher is to display, instill, and nurture a thirst for learning. I have personally had many amazing and memorable teachers at all stages of my education, and the one thing they had in common was that they made the classes they taught interesting. There are many ways to make a class interesting, whether through hands on activities, cross content instruction, or showing them possible career fields and real world applications of the subject at hand.
I believe that cross content instruction has the biggest impact on students, helping them to realize that though they may have 7 different subjects during the course of the day, they aren’t as separate and complete as they may think. I intend to use class readings of related literature to show how chemistry, and science in general, can be seen in subjects such as English and History. Making sure my students can use and understand the metric system is an integral part of chemistry since all measurements must be done or converted to standard units. Mathematics is also evident in things as varied as balancing chemical equations (Algebra) and developing problem solving skills used in identifying unknown substances.
I think chemistry is best learned through hands on inquiry, exploration, and experimentation. I aim to have at least one laboratory experiment or inquiry per unit and I will use them to not only teach the principle at hand but how to properly document data and write reports. Many of the experiments will be opportunities for my students to work in pairs or small groups, learning the social skills of cooperation, teamwork, and individual responsibility within a group. I intend to use materials or concepts that are familiar to the students during the experiments to make it real for them. For example an experiment on mixtures and pure substances could use beach sand collected from various local beaches, allowing the students not only to observe the components that make up the mixture but see how different beaches have different predominant colors to the sand.
I was told from a young age that knowledge is the one thing that can never be taken away from you and that is the reason why learning and education is so important. This has shaped who I am as a person, and I am always looking to learn new things. I hope to nurture this desire in my own students by not only teaching them the topics they need to know from the curriculum but also teaching them how to learn these things on their own. I want to give them the resources to solve problems that arise in school and in life. There has been research done that shows this metacognitive approach is the most effective in science education, as well as other subjects. If you can think about and explain the process you need to solve a problem you are far more likely to fully understand the problem and why the answer is what it is than someone who just knows the answer.
I will use my background in the biotech industry and pharmaceutical manufacturing to relate the topics we are covering in chemistry to real world issues so that the students can see why chemistry is important. My industry experience will also be helpful in explaining to students that the safety precautions and documentation procedures we follow in class are not just something done in high school but necessary at all levels of chemistry work. Discussion of current trends and research in these areas and others will display my own continuing desire to learn as well as hopefully pique the interest of students who want to learn more. I am not afraid to admit when I do not know something and I will do what I can to find out the answer, preferably explaining the process of my search to my students if not having them participate directly.
I am excited to share my love and knowledge of chemistry with my students. I know that they all will not pursue an education or career in the field but I hope that they will at least leave my class thinking that chemistry isn’t too bad and perhaps even fun. If I have given my students the skills and ambition to seek out answers to questions or problems they have, then I will consider myself successful. The image below is of my ibranstorm project showing a few statements that I feel fit my philosophy.
My background experiences have uniquely prepared me to be a high school chemistry teacher. My bachelor's degree in chemistry and my prior experience teaching general chemistry labs at the university level allow me to have such a firm grasp on the concepts taught that I can focus my time on helping students. Instead of having to stop and think about how to solve a problem when a student calls me over for assistance, I can tell at a glance what they've understood and gotten correct and what they've struggled with. My deeper understanding of this topic allows me to create tasks that can be adapted for students at all achievement levels, and engagement levels.
My deepest desire would be to have engaged students, in any class, any environment. Chemistry is not everyone's love, but can I make it interesting and provide opportunities for students to engage and relate to the material from multiple viewpoints and contents? I enjoy using trade books to convey messages about chemistry, books such as the biography of Marie Curie, and a book that tells a tale about each element on the periodic table of the elements. I seek to find ways to relate the content to students daily lives, including stunning and shocking examples of what seem to be mundane topics such as ionic bonds -- a giant cavern in a mountain in Mexico full of perfect 20 foot tall crystals at 113 degrees Fahrenheit and 95% humidity; or demonstrating that changing H2O to H3O cannot be done to balance a chemical equation because you would be starting with harmless water and "changing" it to acid.
I feel that I am poised to achieve these goals as a teacher, knowing that each day, week, and year will bring new surprises and challenges. I think I am well prepred both in my content area of chemistry as well as in my education preparation to do all in my power to create alearning environment that is welcoming and productive for all learners.
OLD VERSION:
My number one goal as a teacher is to display, instill, and nurture a thirst for learning. I have personally had many amazing and memorable teachers at all stages of my education, and the one thing they had in common was that they made the classes they taught interesting. There are many ways to make a class interesting, whether through hands on activities, cross content instruction, or showing them possible career fields and real world applications of the subject at hand.
I believe that cross content instruction has the biggest impact on students, helping them to realize that though they may have 7 different subjects during the course of the day, they aren’t as separate and complete as they may think. I intend to use class readings of related literature to show how chemistry, and science in general, can be seen in subjects such as English and History. Making sure my students can use and understand the metric system is an integral part of chemistry since all measurements must be done or converted to standard units. Mathematics is also evident in things as varied as balancing chemical equations (Algebra) and developing problem solving skills used in identifying unknown substances.
I think chemistry is best learned through hands on inquiry, exploration, and experimentation. I aim to have at least one laboratory experiment or inquiry per unit and I will use them to not only teach the principle at hand but how to properly document data and write reports. Many of the experiments will be opportunities for my students to work in pairs or small groups, learning the social skills of cooperation, teamwork, and individual responsibility within a group. I intend to use materials or concepts that are familiar to the students during the experiments to make it real for them. For example an experiment on mixtures and pure substances could use beach sand collected from various local beaches, allowing the students not only to observe the components that make up the mixture but see how different beaches have different predominant colors to the sand.
I was told from a young age that knowledge is the one thing that can never be taken away from you and that is the reason why learning and education is so important. This has shaped who I am as a person, and I am always looking to learn new things. I hope to nurture this desire in my own students by not only teaching them the topics they need to know from the curriculum but also teaching them how to learn these things on their own. I want to give them the resources to solve problems that arise in school and in life. There has been research done that shows this metacognitive approach is the most effective in science education, as well as other subjects. If you can think about and explain the process you need to solve a problem you are far more likely to fully understand the problem and why the answer is what it is than someone who just knows the answer.
I will use my background in the biotech industry and pharmaceutical manufacturing to relate the topics we are covering in chemistry to real world issues so that the students can see why chemistry is important. My industry experience will also be helpful in explaining to students that the safety precautions and documentation procedures we follow in class are not just something done in high school but necessary at all levels of chemistry work. Discussion of current trends and research in these areas and others will display my own continuing desire to learn as well as hopefully pique the interest of students who want to learn more. I am not afraid to admit when I do not know something and I will do what I can to find out the answer, preferably explaining the process of my search to my students if not having them participate directly.
I am excited to share my love and knowledge of chemistry with my students. I know that they all will not pursue an education or career in the field but I hope that they will at least leave my class thinking that chemistry isn’t too bad and perhaps even fun. If I have given my students the skills and ambition to seek out answers to questions or problems they have, then I will consider myself successful. The image below is of my ibranstorm project showing a few statements that I feel fit my philosophy.